Automobile car washer



1963 w. 1.. MORRISON 3,114,924;

- AUTOMOBILE CAR WASHER Filed July 10, 1962 8 /l/IAW/l/I/IAW/ WITNESSES United States Patent Ofiiice ddldfiz l Patented Dec. 24, 1nd? 3,lll4,924 AUTQMUBHLE CAR WASHER William L. Morrison, 1623 W. (Jreseent Ave, Paris Ridge, Eli. Filed July 10, 1962, Ser. No. Ziiiifiid 6 Qlaims. (Cl. 15-97) The increase in water pressure which cities have achieved over the years provides a source of power to do the work when washing the automobile. This automobile car washer uses the water pressure from the garden hose to power a hydraulic turbine which drives a sponge mounted on the turbine shaft that scrubs the car without scratching because of the gentle sponge cleaning action and the spent water is used as a cleaning fluid.

timing is continuous.

The main object of this invention is to control the water that is thrown off from the rapidly rotating s onge cleaning element so that the operator using this improvement is not soaked while washing the car; and a means to collect the sprays generated in the hydraulic turbine so the spent water is disposed of and the turbine and the rotating sponge cleaning element operate with maximum efficiency.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is substantially a central sectional View of the automobile car washer partially broken away.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the car washer with the sponge cleaning element removed.

FiG. 3 is a central sectional view of an alternate sponge cleaning attachment that can be used in place or" the snonge cleaning element shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a central sectional view of an alternate sponge cleaning attachment that can be used in place of sponge cleaning element shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings, the housing 11 is enclosed with the cover plate 12. The nylon impeller wheel 3 is force fitted onto the stainless steel shaft 5. The shaft of the turbine rotates in the oil impregnated bronze flange type bearings 17 which are press fitted into holes in the housing and cover plate. The garden hose supplies water through the water supply handle it to the hydraulic turbine. The orifice allows a jet of water to strike the impeller vanes d which are spoon shaped to increase the eiliciency with whatever water pressures are used. The nylon spacers 1% keep the impeller Wheel 33 in line with the jet of water flowing out of tie orifice and a small amount of end play allows spray water to lubricate the shaft 5 and bearing surfaces. The turbine shaft 5 is threaded so it screws into the nuts s which are soldered together and these nuts are also soldered to the plate 7. The screws 8 affix the plate '7 to the sponge head 9 which is cemented to the sponge which rotates to wash the car.

The rapidly rotating sponge lit throws off water that comes from the hydraulic turbine and the sponge iii also throws off water it picks up from the car as it is washg, because of the centrifugal force present. The spray shield 13, which is made out of a low density (non-linear) thin sheet of polyethylene, collects this water and allows it to drop off the spray shield 13 without soaking the operator. The pattern for the spray shield 13 comes from a section of a cone; the smaller diameter fitting around the open end of the turbine housing and held in place with sheet metal screws E9 or rivets; and, the larger diameter extends to the bottom of the sponge lit. This encloses approximately a 180 are which allows the water to run away freely from the open side and does not confine the water as a 360 enclosure would do; which would impair the cleaning'action because there would be a build-up of water. The spray shield 13 protects an operator from throw-off water as the water supply handle 1 is in about the center of this shielded area. The open side also allows complete freedom of the sponge cleaning element 10 to move right up to all surfaces that need cleaning on a car without having anything between the sponge it} and surface being cleaned. This open area is also necessary so the rotating sponge cleaning element doesnt rub anything as it moves about the car surface which would take power from the sponge it and impair the cleaning action. The slitted skirt lid is made by cutting many slits from the bottom of the spray shield 13 extending upward to the top of the sponge cleaning element it) which provides narrow flexible strips so the automobile car washer can easily move over the uneven car surfaces because they bend out of the way and do not offer any resistance or hold the sponge 1% above the car surface. These flexible strips of the slitted skirt 14 give spray protection to the operator at the same time they allow water to flow away through the separations between the strips as the car washer is moved about the car surface. These strips also move over water running off the car surface. The slitted skirt li ialso prevents water from being trapped in a confined area so as to avoid interfering with the rotating sponge to in its cleaning action.

The stall deflector 15 is made out or" a thin sheet of stainless steel and is shaped like a section from a chicken egg shell. This stall deflector 15 is attached to the outside of the turbine housing 11 and extends away from the open end of the housing Ill and is held in place with sheet metal screws or rivets near the water supply handle ll. This deflector functions when the sponge cleaning element in is stopped so spent water cannot shoot back from the spoon shaped impeller vanes 4 through the housing opening and go between the spray shie d 13 and sponge cleaning element lltl which would force its spray under the slitted shirt 14 and back upon the operator. The stall deflector llS directs this spent water away from the operator. if the cover plate 12 were rotated in relation to the housing ll, essentially the same result would be achieved.

The speed deflector i6 is shaped like a channel and is made of a thin sheet of stainless steel and is soldered or riveted to the inside of the housing 11 almost opposite the water supply handle 1 and in a position past the point where the spent water impinges on the housing when the spon e is rotating rapidly, so it can collect the rushing water flowing along the inside surface of the side of the housing 11 and direct this water to the open end of the housing 11 and beyond. The spent water cannot accumulate inside the turbine housing 11 which would cause a reduction in efficiency. The speed deflector 16 also prevents the spent water from splashing on the sponge cleaning element it? so the spent water cannot cause excessive flooding in the area being washed by the sponge it? which would lower the eiiiciency. The speed deflector i6 is mostly circular in cross section to give the water it is channeling a circular or helical path all along its length in a way to direct this water back against the rushing surface Water entering the speed deflector 16 to lessen its force as it enters its circular helical flow thus slowing the rush of the water as it flows into the channel so as to provide a controlled condition for water leaving the speed deflector l6 and gives the operator a source of water for power soaking and power rinsing that will not have such force as to splash or'f the car and back upon Since a car has recessed hard to reach areas the alternate sponge cleaning element as shown in MG. 3 can be threaded on the turbine shaft 5 of FIG. 1. It is made of a plastic rod with a round sponge cemented on and is long enough to extend beyond the spray shield 13 to properly reach and wash body indentations, head and tail light areas, as well as shallow hub cap contours. The sponge and of the rod must be round as a squared off edge cuts the sponge through to the edge when pressure is applied; a pointed end allows the sponge to collapse under contact when pressure is applied.

The attachment in FIG. 4 is similar to FIG. 3 and washes deep wheel rims, the close spaces around grilles and the small spaces between the bumpers and car body because it has a small thin sponge cemented on it.

The hollow bottom of the circular sponge 10 shown in FIG. 1, is necessary because most of the surfaces to be cleaned are curved.

This hollowed out bottom allows the sponge 10 to reach out over the curves to the peripheral edge of the circular sponge, thus washing a width as wide as the diameter of the circular sponge 10 as the car washer is moved along the surface.

A fiat bottom sponge would wash only in the center area because it would not allow the full diameter of the sponge surface to come in contact with the curved surface being washed unless so much pressure was applied against the sponge that its rotation would be retarded and the work would cease being done by the power of the hydraulic turbine.

The small curved surfaces with small radii would be washed quickly and easily because the center of the sponge 10 would envelop the small curves and not take the power requirements of larger areas.

What I claim is:

l. A surface cleaning device comprising, in combination; a casing having a closed top and closed sidewall and at least a partially open bottom, a shaft journaled in said top and in said partially open bottom and extending at its bottom end below the latter, a rotor on said shaft between said top and said bottom and having peripheral vanes, a fluid supply handle connected to a portion of said sidewall and means for delivering fluid under pressure into said casing, said fluid striking the vanes rotating said rotor and said shaft, a cleaning element carried by the bottom end of said shaft and having an active surface for engagement with the surface to be cleaned, and a spray shield secured to the bottom margin of the sidewall of said casing and extending downward therefrom to substantially the plane of the active surface of the cleaning element, the bottom of said spray shield encompassing approximately one half of the cleaning element, and the top of said spray shield extending part way around the bottom margin of the casing each way from the fluid supply handle.

2. The structure as set forth in claim 1, and wherein the spray shield has a lower marginal portion comprising a plurality of flexible strips.

3. The structure as set forth in claim 1 wherein means are provided to prevent the spent water from spraying between the cleaning element and spray shield.

4. A surface cleaning device comprising, in combination; a casing having a closed top and closed sidewall and at least a partially open bottom, a shaft journaled in said top and in said partially open bottom and extending at its bottom end below the latter, a rotor on said shaft between said top and said bottom and having peripheral vanes, a fluid supply handle connected to a portion of said sidewall and means for delivering fluid under pressure into said casing, said fluid striking the vanes rotating said rotor and said shaft, a cleaning element carried by the bottom end of said shaft and having an active surface for engagement with the surface to be cleaned, a substantially closed channel carried on the inside of the sidewall of said casing, said channel extending from the top of the casing along said sidewall and out through said partially open bottom of said casing, said channel having an opening along its length, said opening positioned to receive spent water flowing along said inner surface of the sidewall of the casing so spent water flowing on said sidewall can enter said opening.

5. A surface cleaning device comprising, in combination; a casing having a closed top and closed sidewall and openings in the bottom, a shaft rotatably mounted in said casing and extending downwardly therefrom, a rotor on said shaft within said casing and having peripheral vanes, a fluid supply means connected to a portion of said sidewall for delivering fluid under pressure into said casing and against said vanes, said fluid striking said vanes and rotating said rotor and said shaft, a cleaning element carried by said shaft and having an active surface for engagement with the surface to be cleaned, a channel secured on the inside of said sidewall which controls most of the spent water, said channel extending from said top of said casing and along said sidewall toward one of said openings in the bottom of said casing, said channel having an opening along its length, said opening positioned to receive the spent water flowing along said sidewall of said casing.

6. The structure as set forth in claim 1 and the bottom of said cleaning element being hollowed out, the bottom of said cleaning element remaining in approximate relative position to the bottom of said spray shield at various speeds of rotation of said cleaning element, said cleaning element reaching out over curves and other uneven surfaces so as to wash a width as wide as the diameter of said cleaning element.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,055,572 Thompson Mar. 11, 1913 1,305,358 Hapgood June 3, 1919 1,392,623 Cheatham Oct. 4, 192 1,706,402 Hawn Mar. 26, 1929 1,777,915 Douglas Oct. 7, 1930 1,821,394 Moschetto a- Sept. 1, 1931 1,895,532 Backstrom Ian. 31, 1933 1,905,424 Schlieper Apr. 25, 1933 2,284,213 Karas May 26, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS 124,793 Austria Oct. 10, 1931 659,582 Germany May 6, 1938 

1. A SURFACE CLEANING DEVICE COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION; A CASING HAVING A CLOSED TOP AND CLOSED SIDEWALL AND AT LEAST A PARTIALLY OPEN BOTTOM, A SHAFT JOURNALED IN SAID TOP AND IN SAID PARTIALLY OPEN BOTTOM AND EXTENDING AT ITS BOTTOM END BELOW THE LATTER, A ROTOR ON SAID SHAFT BETWEEN SAID TOP AND SAID BOTTOM AND HAVING PERIPHERAL VANES, A FLUID SUPPLY HANDLE CONNECTED TO A PORTION OF SAID SIDEWALL AND MEANS FOR DELIVERING FLUID UNDER PRESSURE INTO SAID CASING, SAID FLUID STRIKING THE VANES ROTATING SAID ROTOR AND SAID SHAFT, A CLEANING ELEMENT CARRIED BY THE BOTTOM END OF SAID SHAFT AND HAVING AN ACTIVE SURFACE FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH THE SURFACE TO BE CLEANED, AND A SPRAY SHIELD SECURED TO THE BOTTOM MARGIN OF THE SIDEWALL OF SAID CASING AND EXTENDING DOWNWARD THEREFROM TO SUBSTANTIALLY THE PLANE OF THE ACTIVE SURFACE OF THE CLEANING ELEMENT, THE BOTTOM OF SAID SPRAY SHIELD ENCOMPASSING APPROXIMATELY ONE HALF OF THE CLEANING ELEMENT, AND THE TOP OF SAID SPRAY SHIELD EXTENDING PART WAY AROUND THE BOTTOM MARGIN OF THE CASING EACH WAY FROM THE FLUID SUPPLY HANDLE. 